A set of golf clubs will typically include 14 clubs, each intended for hitting the golf ball a certain range. For example, a golfer may have a driver, a 2 wood, a 5 wood, 3-9 irons, 3 wedges, and a putter. The variations are as numerous as the temperaments of the players. Some golfers will have a driver, a wood, a hybrid, six irons, four wedges, and a putter.
Drivers are used for very long shots—drives—off the tee whereas wedges are used for short shots. With a given club, a golfer will be able to reliably make good shots over a certain range of distances. While the precise numbers will vary from golfer to golfer, Table 1 lists an exemplary set of golf clubs and, for each, shows the distance range within which the club will perform reliably for the golfer.
TABLE 1Distance range for reliable shots by club for a hypothetical golferDistance rangeClub(yards)ClubDistance range1 wood (driver)225-2608 iron125-1353 wood205-2259 iron115-1255 wood185-205Pitch wedge105-1153 iron175-185Gap wedge 95-1054 iron165-175Sand wedge85-955 iron155-165Lob wedge75-856 iron145-155PutterOn the green7 iron135-145
As can be seen from Table 1, club designers have engineered clubs that, taken as a set, provide reliable performance over a wide range of distances.
However, Table 1 lists 15 clubs and PGA rules allow 14 clubs in a set. So choosing a set of golf clubs requires choosing a range of distances for which your clubs provide poor coverage. For example, many golfers will choose to have all the clubs listed in Table 1 but the 5 wood. The hypothetical golfer of Table 1, leaving behind their 5 wood, would have no club well-suited to 200 yard shots.
Some golfers may try to fill their distance gap by using a hybrid. Table 1 shows an exemplary club set including two hybrids, and a set of ranges that a hypothetical golfer may be able to reliably hit the ball using those clubs.
TABLE 2Distance range for reliable shots by club for a hypothetical golferDistance rangeClub(yards)ClubDistance range1 wood (driver)225-2608 iron125-1353 wood205-2259 iron115-12519° hybrid185-205Pitch wedge105-11522° hybrid175-185Gap wedge 95-1055 iron155-165Sand wedge85-956 iron145-155Lob wedge75-857 iron135-145PutterOn the green
As can be seen in Table 2, this set has a problematic gap for shots that must travel 165 to 175 yards. Table 3 shows another exemplary set that a golfer may employ.
TABLE 3Distance range for reliable shots by club for a hypothetical golferDistance rangeClub(yards)ClubDistance range1 wood (driver)225-2608 iron125-1353 wood205-2259 iron115-1255 wood185-205Pitch wedge105-11525° hybrid165-175Gap wedge 95-1055 iron155-165Sand wedge85-956 iron145-155Lob wedge75-857 iron135-145PutterOn the green
The set shown in Table 3 is plagued by a gap at 175 to 185 yards.
Thus, for many golfers, a set of clubs inherently defines a gap in the distances that their shots can cover. This gap has been described as the ‘distance gap’. The persistence of the distance gap problem is evidenced by the tips that golfers exchange on the course, “Choke up on the handle of your 5 wood to take 5 yards off!” or, “Strengthen your grip on your 4 iron to add 5 yards.”